Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2020 to Question 48980 on Deloitte: Coronavirus, whether his office was involved in the negotiation of the contract with Deloitte to perform covid-19 testing.

The process of contract negotiation is not a process that routinely involves the Secretary of State or his office directly. Officials working on his behalf will act on his authority to negotiate a contract that best meets the needs of the service being proposed.

A summary of Deloitte's contract with the Department will be published in due course.